The Tigers' chief peace negotiator Anton Balasingham told Norwegian peace broker Erik Solheim at a meeting in London Wednesday that the airstrip existed before the rebels entered into a cease-fire with the government in 2002, the TamilNet Web site said.

The statement was the first public confirmation that the Tigers have an airstrip in the rebel-held Kilinochchi district. The government also suspects that the Tigers possess light aircraft based on surveillance photos.

The air force knew ``a long time back'' that the Tigers had an airstrip, but in ``our recent observations around January the planes were spotted,'' air force Commander Air Marshal Donald Perera told The Associated Press.

``The air force has informed every thing to the ministry of defense and the government is taking an appropriate course of action,'' he said without elaborating.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga protested to Norway that the rebels' aircraft acquisition was a direct threat to the country's air space and goes against the spirit of the cease-fire agreement, according to the latest issue of the Sunday Times newspaper.

Norway brokered the cease-fire and has been deeply involved in efforts aimed at permanently ending Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war.

TamilNet quoted Balasingham as saying that Solheim informed him of the government's concerns.

``Balasingham said he had assured Mr. Solheim that government's concern was unfounded and pointed out that the airstrip had been in existence even before the February 2002 cease-fire,'' the report added.

The rebels already have their own artillery unit and navy.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam had demanded a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils until the cease-fire halted the civil war, which killed more than 65,000 people.

The truce halted the violence, but subsequent peace talks broke down in 2003 over the Tigers' demand for more autonomy in the Tamil-majority north and east.

Meanwhile, a top rebel delegation left Thursday on an extensive European tour to drum up support for the tsunami victims and request the international community to pressure the Sri Lankan government to ensure the equitable distribution of foreign aid.

The trip includes stops in Norway, Sweden, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy. Published: Thu Mar 10 04:53:03 EST 2005

The People’s Liberation Front, or the JVP, said the official, Peter Harrold, had extended de facto recognition to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) when he said in an interview the World Bank recognised that the guerrillas were in control of parts of the country.

The JVP, which is the junior partner in President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government, launched a scathing attack on Harrold over the interview with a local weekly on the need for the government and rebels who control parts of the island’s embattled northeast to work closely together on tsunami relief. More... Published: Thu Mar 10 05:04:18 EST 2005

Meanwhile, in Parliament today morning, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Rauff Hakeem demanded the Government to take full responsibility of these civilian deaths as all these killings occurred in ‘Government controlled areas’. Published: Thu Mar 10 02:16:59 EST 2005